With China destined to lead

Given China's unprecedented rise and its being catapulted to world leadership by recent US desertions from global responsibilities, the National Day celebrations of China have aptly dominated media headlines worldwide. The parade clearly showcased China's new strengths in organization, technology, coordination, discipline and people's sense of national pride. Most important of course was the speech by President Xi that alluded to the future direction of this powerful juggernaut which seems ordained to transform the history of the 21st century.

China's successive leaders' collective direction has lifted this world's largest nation from its "century of humiliation" and sculpted its Chinese dream of national rejuvenation where two centennial goals promise to make China a moderately prosperous society next year and by 2049 make China a "fully developed, rich and powerful" nation, reaching equal to, if not surpassing, the US.

The most basic comparison shows that while the US, the world's largest exporter of weapons and advanced technologies, represents a 20th-century leadership style, China's ever-growing exports of goods, services and infrastructure represents the leadership that most nations feel increasingly inclined to partner with. This was visible in the national parade celebrating not just China's great political leaders but also entrepreneurs, which remain China's primary drivers for transforming the future of humankind.

- Swaran Singh, a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi